(CNN) -- A dig for buried bodies at the ranch where murderous cult leader Charles Manson and his followers once lived ended Wednesday with no human remains found, authorities said.

Inyo County, California, Sheriff Bill Lutze authorized the dig, which began Tuesday, at Barker Ranch "to confirm or put to rest speculation that bodies may remain from the Charles Manson era," a statement said.

Manson and four others were convicted of murder and other charges in connection with a two-night spree in 1969 that left actress Sharon Tate and six others dead.

Manson is serving a life sentence in a California prison.

In March, search crews found indications that human remains could be buried within a few yards of the ranch in Death Valley in east-central California.

The sites were first identified by cadaver dogs, and testing equipment had shown the possible presence of remains, police said.